Fourteen people, mostly poll personnel bound for Palamau where a Lok Sabha bypoll is due on March 29, were killed and 20 others injured when the bus they were travelling in fell into a gorge in Garwah district.

The mishap occurred when the bus driver tried to avert a collision with a car coming from the opposite direction near a bridge at Tendi More in Ramna, about 25 km from Garwah town.

The bus hurtled into a 15-foot gorge, said Inspector General of Police A K Sinha.

Seven of the injured were in a serious condition.

The poll personnel, mostly teachers, had left Ranka for Garwah. At least 12 of the injured were brought to Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences in Ranchi, sources said.